GCC head reviews single-use plastic ban in Chennai

CHENNAI: Corporation Commissioner GS Sameeran, who is also the chairman of Greater Chennai Region Special Task Force, conducted the third review meeting at Ripon Building on Tuesday (October 13) to monitor the enforcement of the ban on single-use plastic items across Chennai Corporation areas.

Officials discussed the enforcement activities undertaken to prevent the sale and use of 28 banned single-use plastic items, the awareness programmes conducted among schools, colleges and the public, and the duties and responsibilities of each member department.

They said that since the ban in 2019, and until October 8 this year, the GCC inspected 13.17 lakh commercial establishments, and seized 499 tonnes of banned plastic items.

It also collected Rs 9.40 crore in fines from violators, and distributed over 1.52 lakh cloth bags to students and the public.

The Commissioner instructed all member departments to coordinate with each other to prevent the transport of banned plastics into Chennai.

The public was urged to avoid banned plastics, use eco-friendly alternatives such as cloth bags, and cooperate in creating a plastic-free Chennai.

Deputy Commissioner (Health) Thakare Shubam Dnyandeorao, Joint Commissioner of Police (North) M Manohar, Task Force Coordinator and District Environment Engineer (Arumbakkam) P Suganthi Rani, and members from various departments attended the meeting.